For my passion project, I have decided to try to cook and bake things that I have never made before. I find myself often resorting to the easiest meals that I am used to making, and eating out or ordering in when I am craving something different. I want to try and change this habit, partially to save money, but also to bring joy and creativity back to my kitchen, a place that is currently inhabited by endless tupperwares of the same quinoa salad.

I am going to take on any recipes that catch my eye or mood, my first endeavour being lasagna made from scratch. I have never made any form of lasagna before, not knowing how to make it but knowing that it is time-consuming, so I chose this as an ambitious first mission. 

I recalled my stepmom always having the best meat sauce, so I called her and found out that she actually adapts this recipe from The Best of Bridge’s website. 

So I went to pick up my ingredients, and the bill came to $51!!! Which at first made me cry internally. But I realized I had to buy both of the spices, which I won’t have to buy again for a long time, and that lasagna is a bulk meal which will probably give me about 8 meals at about $6 each, a lot less than a meal I would typically order in. 

I followed the very minimalist recipe the best I could, except I didn’t buy Worceister sauce because I couldn’t find it at the store and I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta because it’s cheaper. It took me about 3 hours in total from start to finish, because the meat sauce has to simmer for an hour and also I am really slow at prepping. 

Sauce time:

Layers!

Before and after oven!

I gave some to my roommates to test out and they loved it! Not to pat myself too much on the back, but a real quote from my friend Emily: “Like, am I at Pagliacci’s?” Hopefully it’s safe to say they liked it.

I got 6 meals frozen out of the recipe in the end, so even though it takes a while to make I would say it’s worth it! If you’re looking for a relatively easy venture into lasagna, I would definitely recommend this recipe! Or even if you’re just looking for a simple but flavourful meat sauce, this one is super yummy.Â